In a stunning retelling based on actual events, Ship of Fire depicts Sir Francis Drake's most famous act of daring, the raid on the Spanish port of Cadiz. When Thomas Spyre, a seventeen-year-old surgeon's apprentice is offered the chance to sail on the Elizabeth Bonaventure, Sir Francis Drake's flagship, he never dreams that his master's death in a freak accident will leave him as the ship's only doctor. Thomas is determined to prove himself as a surgeon, but now he must also face battle, when Drake himself enlists him in combat.